Dump Trucks

Dump Truck Jobs in the mines.

Dump truck driving jobs are being advertised on the big jobs boards again. This year, we’ve seen a big rise in the number of mining jobs for haul truck/dump truck operators.Yes there’s plenty of jobs for experienced operators, although being inexperienced also has its advantages and at times, mining contractors and employers will advertise for ‘new operators’ to apply.

You’ll find a lot of opportunity to start working. From open-cut coal mines of the Bowen Basin in Queensland, to the harsh and remote iron ore mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

If you’re completely new to this type of work and you’re still thinking about it – here’s your chance to do something about it.

Wherever you want to work, you will need to make sure you can safely drive these large trucks and be ready to adapt to mine life before you start applying for Dump Truck jobs.

Why dump truck driving qualifications make a difference?

The basic truth is, without the right qualification, you’re chances of scoring a good job in the mines driving a dump truck are scarce. Safety is the biggest priority for mining companies – learn that and you’re already way ahead of everyone else. By doing your dump druck training course, you are learning on the big trucks. These trucks are huge – and the ones you’ll be driving on a real mine site are the size of a small apartment block (and most of them are left hand drive too).

Start to create your own list of these job boards and learn what the mining companies are looking for in terms of skills, experience and willingness to work FIFO in remote areas of WA and QLD.

There are always dump truck jobs advertised on the big online mining jobs boards like SEEK, Indeed and JORA.

Are all dump trucks the same?

There are many different sizes, makes and models of dump truck driving around mine sites, yet they all function relatively the same. The most common dump trucks in Australia are Caterpillar and Komatsu.

You’ll also find the more recent mines such as Roy Hill and Daunia are choosing electric/hybrid trucks over the diesel-powered ones.

Many mine sites run a variety of dump trucks. Some are new and some are older models, however, their basic operation remains the same and you can expect the majority of them to be left hand drive too.

Safety is a primary focus for all dump truck operators, so it is important to have the correct certification before you set foot on a mine site.

What does it look like inside a dump truck?

If you know a little bit about the inside of a dump truck can and how to drive safely you will be well ahead of other candidates when you send in your resume for that all-important job. For new starters who don’t have much experience, this is where you can show an employer you may not have the driving experience, but you know the ins and outs of the machinery and have taken the time to study how everything works. That’s why you need to do some of your own research and find out all you can about these massive machines.

As part of your dump truck operator training course, you’ll be given access to a lot of reading material so you can prepare well in advance. You can also watch these Dump Truck Videos to help you familiarise yourself with the training.

How much is dump truck training?

These monster trucks are the workhorse of the mining industry. The training you’ll be doing is well worth the investment because the machines you train on are worth more than a million dollars. When you’re in the cab and driving this huge piece of machinery around a mine site, you’ll realise it was money well spent – because once you’re in a mining job, there’s so many more opportunities to learn how to drive other vehicles such as roller, compactors, water trucks, excavators, dozers and scrapers.

Not only will you be learning on the biggest training trucks in Australia, you’ll be operating machinery on a site working with other operators.

When you consider your starting wage of around $100k+ is attainable, it is well worth investing the money to get the qualification.